The Curious Correspondence Club - "Chapter XIV: Below Zero"

Photo above is property of The Curious Correspondence Club

Company: The Curious Correspondence Club

Game: Chapter XIV: Below Zero

Country: Canada 🇨🇦

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Game 📬

Genre: Mystery

Date Played: February 7, 2022

Difficulty (based on 2 players): 6/10

Size of Team: Unlimited (Age 12+)

Time: Unlimited (Suggested: 60-90 Minutes)

Price: $21.95 (free shipping in North America); Monthly Subscription: $19.95/Yearly Subscription: $179

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Chartering an expedition through the frozen ocean, you find yourself at the hull of a ship that has been buried in the snow for who knows how long. Making your way onboard and into the captain’s quarters, you find the remnants of many instruments that make up a rudimentary laboratory. You also encounter an old safe that hides what you are looking for but as you try to open the safe, the ship begins to shift in the ice. Can you obtain the contents of the safe before the ship is lost to the icy sea forever?

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Unfolding the envelope, the story of this chapter is printed on the envelope. The envelope also has a checklist of the items you should have as well as a QR code to the hint and solutions page. Laid out in the envelope are multiple high-quality looking papers and paper items.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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Going through the different papers, our jaws dropped when we found ourselves building a tangible object with some of the papers given to us which ended up looking really impressive. Not only was the overall story from the envelope well written and detailed but we found the story embedded in the puzzles and other items written with great quality as well. The look and feel of the paper was high quality that ranged from weathered paper and old looking sketches.

The hint section offered a leveled hint system. We found the hint system could have been labelled better since we had trouble with the descriptions they gave them. We had to click through each of the hint titles before we found the one we needed. Once the game is completed, the ending did have a great quality video that progressed the story and got us excited for the next Curious Correspondence game.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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The puzzles were set up in a non-linear fashion so we were able to divide and conquer a little bit. At first glance, some of the puzzles were not very clear but once you read into the associated text, we got our aha moment and discovered how to solve them. One thing we liked was that the main pieces of each puzzle was marked out so that there was no confusion in wondering what pieces you need to solve them. There was a good mix of difficulty on the puzzles. Some we were able to solve and get right away while some we had to go over it a few times before realizing what needed to be done. There were some sneaky ones too that were

fun to solve as they were not what they seemed.

One thing we did find lacking was a confirmation through the game that you have the correct answer as you progress. There is a confirmation on the website for the final answer which will then reveal the final video but if you check your final answer and it is wrong, you may need to go through all the work you did through the other puzzles to see where a mistake could have been made. That being said, the solutions can be found on the hint pages if required.

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Overall, we were very impressed with the amount of puzzling and story that could fit into one regular sized envelope. The fact that we could even build a tangible item from this game got us excited right from the start. Even though there was only 2 of us playing, the non-linear puzzle stream was nice to allow us to split things up and puzzle through, which would allow for a few more players if needed. The immersiveness that they were able to provide through the story telling really stuck with us as this was our first Curious Correspondence game. Even not having played any of their previous game, we did not feel lost or lacking any information to play. We are definitely going to have to try out some more.

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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank The Curious Correspondence Club for providing us with a sample of their game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

#MatthewLui #AtHomeGames #TabletopGames #PuzzlesByMail #SubscriptionGames #Mystery #Canada #TheCuriousCorrespondenceClub